Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Beauty of the Season

This is an amazing, eventful time of year but at the same time it can be really stressful, right? It can often be a trigger for a lot of emotional issues to surface because we are easily reminded of the things we've lost during the holidays. But I prefer my glass half to almost all the way full! At some point in our life, we all experience loss & drastic changes to our lifestyle but some losses are blessings in disguise. We must put those things to rest and see what cups are still standing. Our instinct is not to just survive but to thrive!


We could all probably put the Snoopy psychiatry booth to use. This was taken at the Mill Ave. Christmas parade on 11/27/10

The end of the year is a great time to take inventory on our lives. We should give ourselves the opportunity to reflect on the year and our accomplishments or lack thereof. I know that many people have expressed to me that they didn't get everything "done" that they wanted to do this year. This is okay. We are blessed with the coming of 2011 and so we can re-intent our goals.

Even if we didn't outwardly accomplish much, there might be some inner work that you've done. It could mean that you became more patient or wise this year. Or maybe you had a shift and became less materialistic or critical of others. For me personally, this year has been a lot about improving my health and physicality by getting out there and moving my body more often...running, hiking, camping, yoga, swimming and rock-climbing. On an inner level, it's been more about allowing myself to set boundaries while figuring out what truly makes me happy. This is also referred to as "keepin' it real". :)

So as the air continually gets chillier, you can warm your heart by reconnecting with those who haven't reached out to in awhile. I just adore this time of year. There is nothing better than snuggling to keep warm. I find great joy in being able to give to the people that I care about. I hope you find great joy this season in the simple things like preparing a delicious meal with love in it, the smell of firewood burning, baby Eskimo kisses, sharing wine with friends and the feeling that everything is quite alright after all...

Happy Holidays and continued gratefulness for football season!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Wisdom gained that I'd love to share...

Hello Everyone,

I am back from a terribly long hiatus. Honestly the past few months have felt really difficult to me. I had to basically "clean house" metaphorically speaking. Let me tell you, once in awhile you have to step back and look at your life objectively and see what patterns, people, habits, things are holding you back. Then you have to be brave enough and willing to do the work to systematically remove them & create space for even new, better opportunities. I talk about this a lot, I know. But I finally went from talking to doing. So now that I've had the time to go inward, I'd like to share with you some of the things I've learned and perhaps it might help you too:

1. Relax when you fall, it hurts less.

When I climbed Humphries Peak this year, I literally fell up the mountain and even more so down the mountain. I can't help but to laugh when I think about it. But I must've slipped about seven times on the way down to the point that I deemed myself a professional faller. When I knew I was about to slam down onto my butt, I literally relaxed my body and it didn't hurt as much. I see this as a metaphor for life. Sometimes you just don't have control over certain aspects of your life, so the best thing to do is, is just surrender because sometimes we have to go through certain things in order to grow. Even if it's really painful like falling and gashing your leg open, if you can be graceful when you do it that's all that matters.

2. After age 30, metabolism goes to hell.

I remember when I was 20 years old in the Army, I could polish off an entire Papa John's Hawaiian pizza and fit in a size 2. Now I even look at a cookie, I have to spend 2 hours in the gym to burn it off. So with this awareness, I had to shift my eating habits and I'm still working on it. It's so easy to turn to food when we feel stressed or emotionally unfulfilled. The lesson here is, keep healthy food in the house so when you do feel the need to stuff your face after a long, stressful day, you can eat something nutritious that benefits you. It's just a good habit to develop, no matter what age you are.

3. Thoughts are most powerful thing we possess.

There is a current trend now where people are being more exposed to the idea of the power of "positive thinking" and quantum physics. This is not just some fluffy new age theory, science is proving how our thoughts create everything in our lives down to our emotional fabrics & our health. I am slowly learning to shift my awareness and attitude. It takes time. But the biggest key to success is maintaining an "attitude of Gratitude". When some bad happens, be in gratitude. When something wonderful happens, be in gratitude. There is always so much to be thankful for in almost every situation. So I return back to this very simple principle when I feel like I am going to fall apart.

This is Oak Creek Canyon, where I went camping with my daughter. It's such a beautiful place to regroup.

4. Never settle.

This is a given, right? Then how come we a majority of us are guilty of this? It boils down to being impatient. The irony is that settling ends up wasting more time in the long haul. Especially in relationships, it's such an easy trap to fall into. We try to paint a prettier picture for fear of being alone. My thought is, it's better to be alone than to be with the wrong person. In any given situation, I think the best thing is to take into consideration not just what you want but also what you need in order to be healthy, successful and fulfilled. Our needs and wants can be bridged if we take the time to sit back & assess what is really going to be right for us.

5. If you think you're accomplishing nothing, it's probably not true.

Everyday I feel a lot of unnecessary guilt and pressure that I put on myself. I really have not been able to do anything creative. All of my energy is devoted to my work and my children. So I look at the empty canvas and frown that I've done nothing. I beat myself up for running 2 miles instead of 10. But it dawned upon me that I am doing the best I can and raising children is a wonderful accomplishment and creation in itself. With that said, if you feel like you've haven't been doing "enough" lately...take a step back and see that you are probably doing more than you give yourself credit for. If you genuinely feel like there is no movement in your life, with the new year approaching maybe it's time to think about where you can shift.

So hopefully this has helped you in some way or another. If not, let it marinate a bit. Thank you so much for reading and I believe I will stay in my writing groove for awhile, more sharing to follow.